Show Round

If you would like to arrange a show round at the nursery please email the office. These are only offered in the mornings so that we have as minimal disruption for our children as possible. We only invite one family to each show round so that we can answer all your questions individually.

We encourage all parents to come for a show round at the nursery before sending in a registration form. This gives you a chance to meet us, see our facilities and learn more about our ethos.

Facilities

The nursery is in a newly renovated, double fronted Victorian building which has a lovely homely feel. We have maintained the open plan layout which parents love from our sister location and created large, light-filled, play areas for our children. For our youngest babies, we have a dedicated quiet sleep room.

There are four ‘rooms’ at Woodentops Abbeville. Our youngest babies start in Bunny, then progress through Owl and Fox with their final year spent in Deer.

In addition to our individual classrooms we also have an ‘atelier’ or creative studio which all our children access. This is led by our specialist Head of Creative Arts and Outdoor Learning. Our oldest children also use our focused learning classroom for small group work which has state of the art ICT equipment.

The outside play area has been designed as a large sensory garden with full size trees, mini allotment beds and creative play areas, like our outdoor mud kitchen. Our internal courtyard has been transformed into a jungle and ‘Jurassic’ play space.

Our youngest children have specialist music and yoga sessions during the week. For our older children the curriculum also includes a sports coach, weekly forest school mornings, ballet and modern languages.

Fees

We have tried to keep the fee structure as simple as possible for parents. We charge a flat rate regardless of days of the week or the age of your child. All our children receive the same dedicated care and attention.

Our rate from September 2018 is £88 per full day.

A full day session is 8am-6pm. Half days will only be offered to children attending Pre-Reception.

Our minimum number of sessions is three full days.

For children attending 5 full days per week we offer a discount of £100 per month

Our sibling discount is 10% for children attending three or more days per week

Hours

We are open 8:00am-6:00pm weekdays and for 50 weeks a year. We are closed for all bank holidays and for ten working days during the year. Usually 5 around the Easter break and 5 at Christmas. Holiday dates are provided to parents at the start of each year.

Ofsted

We are registered by OFSTED (EY476153), who visited us in March 2014 before opening.

OFSTED inspected the nursery the on 14th July, please find the report in the link above.
We are very pleased to say that we received a Good in all areas.

The inspector commented “Leaders have high expectations of what children can learn and achieve. They consistently monitor and evaluate the provision to ensure that the nursery provides a good quality service and continually improves”. She noted “Children develop a good sense of belonging and self-worth. They show consideration to their friends and are sensitive to the needs of others”.

She praised our coaching and mentoring commenting that “staff observe each other to share good practice and benefit from training on the early years curriculum to meet the needs of each child”. The inspector also commented on how well settled our children are: “Children quickly settle into daily routines and make friends”. Some lovely comments!

Settling In

As an introduction to the Nursery, we offer a taster Stay & Play session from 3:15-3:45pm and parents are invited to stay with children during this time. Following this, should you wish to take up the place we will organise a home visit.

We offer three settling in sessions free of charge. These take place on three consecutive days prior to your child starting with us.

The first session lasts two hours from 9:30-11:30. You will be in the room for the first hour with the team, your child and the other children. This is really just to get your child introduced to the new faces, the room and the buzz of nursery. For the second hour we ask you to step out of the room and spend time in the office, reviewing our policies and procedures over a nice cup of tea with the manager.

The second session, usually the following day, is also two hours from 10:30-12:30 and includes lunch. For this session we suggest you are in the room for around 20 minutes and then step out. This gives your child the chance to bond with the staff in the room and get stuck into an activity before we give them their lunch.

The third session is the longest, around four hours, from 10:30-2:30 and incorporates lunch and an afternoon nap for those children on full day places. For this session you do not need to remain on the premises. It also helps to keep the drop off a little shorter as this will help your little one get used to what an everyday drop off will feel like.

Some parents feel they (or their child) may need longer to settle in and will build up sessions gradually for the first month. We may also advise you that your child will need longer to settle. We suggest that your child’s first full day at nursery is not your first full day back at work and that you allow additional time to ensure you are both feeling happy and secure coming to nursery.

Around a week before you start you will receive your ‘All about me’ pack. This is all of the information you need to complete before your child starts. It covers your emergency contact details, your child’s medical information and includes all of our consent forms. It is also your chance to tell us in detail about your child, their likes and dislikes, routine and any other information that will help us ensure they feel as settled and secure as quickly as possible.